Nation/World Briefs

May 09, 2006

Darfur refugee riot at camp forces U.N. official to flee NYALA, Sudan (AP) -- Darfur refugees rioted Monday and forced the U.N. humanitarian chief to rush from their camp, then later attacked African peacekeepers and killed a translator in a sign of deep tensions in the wartorn region despite a fragile peace deal. The violence broke out as the U.N.'s Jan Egeland toured Kalma camp, home to some 90,000 displaced people driven from their villages in Darfur. He was met by about 1,000 protesters demanding U.N. peacekeepers be deployed in the region. About a half-hour later, the crowd attacked unarmed African Union peacekeepers at a nearby compound, killing a Sudanese translator working with the AU. Wave of violence in Iraq leaves 34 dead, including U.S. soldier BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Violence killed at least 34 people including a U.S. soldier as efforts to finish choosing the new Cabinet bogged down Monday in a web of conflicting interests. Officials said Iraqi parties may look outside parliament to find candidates for some key posts. The deadliest attack Monday occurred when a car bomb exploded near an Iraqi court in central Baghdad, killing five Iraqi civilians and wounding 10, police Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammedawi said. Two Iraqi policemen died and 12 people were wounded when another car bomb went off near a police patrol traveling down busy Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad, police Lt. Ahmed Qassim said. The American soldier was killed when a roadside bomb struck a military convoy Monday southeast of Baghdad, according to a U.S. statement. The command did not specify the location, but Iraqi police reported a bombing damaged a U.S. convoy between the Shiite holy cities of Karbala and Najaf. In a separate statement, the U.S. command said one American soldier was killed and another wounded during a clash Sunday near Tal Afar, 260 miles northwest of Baghdad. The fatalities raised to at least 2,421 the number of U.S. military members who have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. Iranian leader's letter to Bush not diplomatic wedge, Rice says NEW YORK (AP) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dismissed a surprise letter that Iran's president sent to President Bush on Monday, saying it did not seriously address the standoff over Tehran's disputed nuclear program. In an interview with The Associated Press, the top U.S. diplomat said the letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was 17 or 18 pages long and covered history, philosophy and religion. It was not a diplomatic opening, she said. "This letter isn't it. This letter is not the place that one would find an opening to engage on the nuclear issue or anything of the sort," Rice said. "It isn't addressing the issues that we're dealing with in a concrete way." 'Surprised' by life sentence, Moussaoui now says he lied ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -- Convicted Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui says he lied on the witness stand about being involved in the plot and wants to withdraw his guilty plea because he now believes he can get a fair trial from an American jury. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema denied Moussaoui's request Monday afternoon, saying the motion was "too late." In a motion filed Friday but released Monday, Moussaoui said he testified on March 27 that he was supposed to hijack a fifth plane on Sept. 11, 2001, and fly it into the White House "even though I knew that was a complete fabrication." A federal court jury spared the 37-year-old Frenchman the death penalty last Wednesday. On Thursday, Brinkema gave him six life sentences, to run as two consecutive life terms, in the federal supermax prison at Florence, Colo. Explaining his latest reversal, Moussaoui said in an affidavit: "I was extremely surprised" by the life sentence. FDA conducting analysis of study linking sweetener to cancer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal health officials said Monday they are conducting their own review of a since-discredited 2005 Italian study that concluded the sugar substitute aspartame causes cancer. The Food and Drug Administration said in a statement that it expects to complete its review of a portion of the study data, begun in late February, "as soon as possible." Meanwhile, the regulatory agency said it has not seen scientific information that would support a change in its conclusions about the safety of aspartame. In 1981, the FDA determined that aspartame was safe for use in food. An Italian study last year concluded aspartame led to higher rates of lymphoma and leukemia in rats.